It was a long time since she felt really well. The disease in her body dominated her days and consumed her mind. She tried to function as well as she could, but ultimately, her sickness limited her. The constant loss of blood left her body weak and exhausted. Living with hormones that never balanced themselves affected her mind and emotions. Because Jewish culture deemed women who were menstruating “unclean”, she had to live with that stigma. Her illness was interfering with her marriage, her family, her friendships, and her ability to worship God at the Temple. She was desperate to be free. Over the past 12 years, she tried everything. She went from doctor to doctor, tryin
One thing I've learned from my experience as an angry woman is that you can't overcome your anger until you get to the root of the problem and figure out exactly why you are so angry. To Read More of My Testimony of overcoming the Issues of my past, read Finding Healing....available on Amazon or at our 4One Ministries bookstore.
It was my second round of the “flu” in three weeks. Even though I didn’t share the first round with my brother, when he did catch a different strain 10 days later, he passed it on to me. It. Was. Awful. Coughing, sneezing, chills and fevers dominated our house. Jamie and I spent the weekend resting on opposite sofas each possessing our own tissue box and garbage bag filled with dirty tissues. Not the way I planned to spend our one weekend off from Mantour travel. On Saturday, we tried to push through and take care of ourselves. However, when my fever went up on Sunday, I gave up on independence and asked my Dad to throw some steaks on the grill and some baked potatoes into t
Sometimes we are under the impression that serving God will be great, care-free and easy all of our lives. This was not the case with Mary, Jesus’ mother. She was the woman in the Bible who knew Jesus, yet had a hard life because He was in her life. She was a teenager when God called her to be a part of His plan. She willingly accepted because she loved God and was devoted to Him. According to Jewish law an unwed mother was to be killed. But God protected her and that didn’t happen. She still faced rejection and humiliation. She faced the threat of divorce, being an outcast in society. She bore shame and embarrassment from those who didn’t understand God’s will or ways. We don’t k
So anyone who has seen a recent picture of me may have noticed that I’m looking a little different. After the great haircut massacre of May 2017, I decided that it is time to start wearing my hair a little longer. Right now, we are in the “growing out” stage, and yes, I am aware that it isn’t necessarily pretty. I mean, it’s not that I’m not trying—-and if you’ve seen a picture, it was taken on a day where I tried really hard to manage what I can only describe now as an awkward stage. Believe me when I say that there are many days where I look in the mirror and think, “‘Des, this is not your most attractive look, why are you putting yourself through this?” The answer is simply that
The first step to experiencing freedom from anger is taking responsibility for your anger. You start changing when you stop blaming others and say, "I'm an angry woman...but I don't want to be anymore." To Read More of My Testimony of overcoming the Issues of my past, read Finding Healing....available on Amazon or at our 4One Ministries bookstore.
Q & A Over the years, single women have gotten a reputation for being the Debbie Downer of Valentine’s Day. What are some practical steps each of us can take to turn that reputation around? 1. Choose to wear red. Not just on Valentine’s Day, but even in the two weeks leading up to it, I try to wear red as much as possible to celebrate the season. I’ve found that over the years it doesn’t just send the message that it’s okay to celebrate Valentine’s Day around a single gal, but it makes me feel good about myself. Why shouldn’t we feel good about ourselves---we’re daughters of the king. We should walk tall and strut that we are godly women with a purpose. 2. Make smiling your favorite. Okay,
Join me as I share my own testimony of being an angry woman and how I found freedom. To Read More of My Testimony of overcoming the Issues of my past, read Finding Healing....available on Amazon or at our 4One Ministries bookstore.
She was just about to spill it….all the juicy details of the whole situation. Being completely human, I really wanted to hear about what happened. My curious side was waiting on the edge of my seat as the latest scoop was about to be divulged. (Hey, just keeping it real here) But then the Holy Spirit inside prompted me, “This isn’t right”. “I KNOW!!!” I inwardly thought, a little disappointed and annoyed that I had to do the right thing. And then like I turn the steering wheel on my car, I gracefully maneuvered the conversation in a different direction by saying something positive about the person and situation that was about to be sliced and diced. No, I don’t know the latest gossip….but
It was first thing in the morning. Even though I knew it was time to get up the crisp cold air in the room was begging me to stay under the covers. Using prayer as an excuse, I started talking to Jesus about several of the challenges that were facing me that week. (It had the potential to be a doozy!!) Soon I was praying, “Help me to get through this challenge” “Help me get through this event” “Oh Jesus, please help me get through this issue.” And then I heard myself. More importantly, the Holy Spirit heard what I was saying and corrected/challenged me with these words: “Really?? That’s all you want? To ‘get through’ to ‘survive’?” I’d never really thought about it before. Still, I had
